Preview: Evolution Festival

Evolution Festival, held in Newcastle upon-Tyne and Gateshead, is a two day music event taking place across the Spring Bank Holiday weekend (May 28th and 29th).

There are three stages in total: Spillers Wharf, Baltic Square and Ballast Hills, the latter of which supports local talent.

The festival began in 2002 as Freevolution, a free multi-venue event. Since then, the festival has gone through many changes including sponsorship from mobile phone provider, Orange which lasted from 2005 to 2007. In 2008, a £3 charge was imposed and the festival was rebranded as 3volution.

As the festival’s acts got bigger, so did the price, with 2009’s weekend ticket costing £15. As a result of this, it became known as Evolution Festival, donating some of the charge to Wateraid, the official charity. Previous headliners have included Maximo Park, The Streets, Paolo Nutini, Enter Shikari and Dizzee Rascal.

2011 will see American punk rockers, Iggy & The Stooges headlining on the Saturday and Brit Award winner, Plan B, on the Sunday. Other noticeable acts include Tinie Tempah, Example, Caribou, Annie Mac, Sub Focus, Katy B, Two Door Cinema Club and The Kills.

Crowds of 60,000 people are expected to gather over the weekend. Tickets are priced at £35 for the weekend, with day tickets available for £25. For more information, visit the official website.